Cloud Nine
by Misguided Angel of Death
Summary: A collection of 42 one-shots based off the prompts from 42 souls on Livejournal. Most considerably fluffy, pairings range from crack! to non-crack. Rating may go up.
1. Almost Nice

**  
****Title:** Almost Nice  
**Rating: **PG  
**Pairing/Character: **Black Star x Maka  
**Theme #: **04. Peace  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Soul Eater, it's characters, or this prompt list. They belong to Atsushi Okubo and 42_souls, respectively.  
**Warning**: No plot. =D  
**A/N**: This pairing needs more love! D: Sure, Soul x Maka is my favorite Maka pairing, and Black Star x Tsubaki comes close second as overall favorite, but it's no fun without crack! sometimes! Ne? Ne?

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The morning was as normal as any other. The sun shone brightly, the sky was a pretty shade of blue, and breakfast was made _perfectly. _Everythingwas peaceful, everything was calm. She couldn't have asked for anything better.

"Oi! Maka! Hurry up with that food, would ya?! A _God_ is starving over here!!"

Oh yes. That morning would've been much, _much_ better if _he_ wasn't there.

Maka's eye twitched, her grip on the plate of food _originally made for two people_ tightening. While she didn't mind cooking, she _did_ mind feeding a certain _ungrateful_, _immature_,_ loud-mouthed _technician.

Yet, for the sake of her good friend Tsubaki, she bit her lip and served everyone breakfast, being mindful of slamming Black Star's plate in front of him. Not that he noticed anyways; he was already gulping down the food as though he were a vacuum of some sorts. With a disgusted sigh, she set the last two plates in front of their designated person before sitting in front of her own, eyes set in a fixed glare to the one gulping down and being unappreciative of her food.

"Maka-chan, this is really delicious!" Tsubaki exclaimed with a smile, eating delicately and actually _appreciating_ her cooking, unlike her rowdy, blue-haired partner.

"Thank you!" Maka beamed, "It's nice to hear opinions from outside the house once in a while!"

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" The white-haired weapon mumbled in between chewing a piece of a fluffy, yellow omelet. "Is _my_ opinion not good enough?"

"It's not like that!" She defended, pausing to bite into a piece of unagi. "If I just had your opinion all the time, then I wouldn't know what I'd have to get better on!"

"Ya know, if you want to get better you can start by not burning the sausage next time!"

Her eye twitched.

She didn't need _his_ opinion.

"B-Black Star! That's not true!" Tsubaki rushed in quick to stop the oncoming fight at the beginning. "Maka's sausages taste really good! They are not burnt!" The demon-weapon waved her arms frantically, not wanting her two friends to fight.

"It's alright, Tsubaki. I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time." Maka growled through clenched teeth, each word seething with anger.

"Good! While you're at it, make sure the rice is more fluffy! And use some seasoning in the omelet! It tastes bland!"

Five seconds passed.

And then, a distinct, echoing crash accompanied by high-pitched yelps.

Black Star would be bruised for quite a while.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Maka sighed tiredly. Dealing with test after test, and even a mission left her exhausted and just wanting to rest for the remainder of the day - which was exactly what she planned to do had not she been dragged to a party that she had _completely _forgotten about.

She leaned against the balcony, staring at the insides of the grand room. Soul was off garnering nosebleeds after Blair had shown up, Kid was setting the entire room so that it would be symmetrical while Liz and Patty went from eating to dancing to eating again. Tsubaki was cleaning after the mess that Black Star had made while devouring the buffet table, and Black Star was...

Her eyes scanned the room.

Black Star was nowhere to be found.

Maka blinked. No wonder why it was so calm and on a normal noise-level. The loud technician wasn't even in the room. She blinked again, before turning to look at the dark, star-lit sky. He was probably in the bathroom throwing up all that food he consumed or something. Not that she cared, seeing as _her_ food was so _horrible. _Who would blame him, wanting to get the disgusting taste out of his mouth by eating the nicely-made, high-class, catered food available?

Her fist clenched. If he wanted something that tasted good, he could've at least gave prior warning to his appearance. But of course, he always had to show up with a bang, leaving her unprepared. If she had known, then she'd have tried a different recipe, instead of just adding more ingredients to the one she was making. She wouldn't have been trying to measure everything perfectly so that he could get slightly more than everyone else, leading her to take her eyes off the sausage and _burning_ it. She wouldn't have forgotten that only Soul didn't like seasoning, and that _he_ liked food blasting with flavor and spice and-

"Oi. Maka."

She snapped out of her thoughts, turning around quickly to find the cause of all her internal problems, with a hand scratching behind his head in a...nervous manner? She composed herself, fixing a glare on him.

"Yes? Do you need something?"

His teal eyes moved from her to the side; it was the first time she had seen him look so...shy.

"I just wanted to tell you that the food was good...you don't have to change it or anything like that."

Maka stared, mouth open slightly in amazement. Was the self-centered, inconsiderate, insensitive Black Star being...apologetic?

The half a second of silence in that moment was all that was offered before a bright smile appeared on the ninja's face.

"But next time I come over, make sure you make more stuff! Gods can't survive on such little food!"

Twitch.

A book flew through the air, hitting him square in the face.

"IDIOT!"

:-:-:-: _END _:-:-:-:


	2. Test, test

**Title: **Test, test  
**Rating: **Um...PG-13? I'm not good with ratings...  
**Pairing: **Slight Black StarxSoul, mentions of Black Star x Tsubaki and SoulxMaka  
**Theme #:** 35. Chaos  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Soul Eater, it's characters, or this prompt list. They belong to Atsushi Okubo and 42_souls, respectively.  
**Warning**: Pointlessness. XD Journal is friends only. Friend me to read it~  
**A/N**: Well...this came outta nowhere. I think I'm better at writing weird, fluffy pairings than canon, full-blown romance. o.O Lol..weird. XD Also, as of the next prompt I finish, this all will be posted on . ^^ I just wanted to get a head start on things first. XD

:-:-:-:-:-:

He was usually an open-minded person. Laid-back, cool, only needed slight convincing to try something new.

But that was usually.

He stared blankly at his friend, who only responded with a determined stare back.

_...T-This isn't real..._

"You...want to do _what?_" Soul tried again, hitting the side of his head to snap himself out of his daze. Maybe he hadn't heard right...

"I want to kiss you!"

...So much for that.

"_What the hell?!_ No! Are you mentally ill or something?!" He snapped, jumping up suddenly and waving his hands around. "There's no way in _hell _I'd do that with _you!_"

Pause.

"Why not?"

"Why not? _Why not? _Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're a _guy!" _He snapped, voice dripping with sarcasm.

At this, his blue-haired friend crossed his arms. "Come _on!_ It's just a test!"

"Test?! Test for what?!"

"To figure out why Tsubaki stopped kissing me!"

...

Soul stopped. Blinked.

"...Eh?"

Black Star's eye twitched. "Are you _deaf_ or something?! Why do I have to repeat everything?!" With this, he jumped up too, staring at Soul eye-to-eye.

"Why are you using _me _to solve your problems with Tsubaki?! Why can't you just ask her or something?!" The silver-haired weapon growled.

"_Because_! She always avoids the topic! She always changes the subject and goes to something else!"

Soul sighed, backing down a bit. "I don't see how _this_ will help you in figuring out what's wrong with _her."_He muttered, crossing his arms and glaring dangerously.

"I just wanna know if I'm doing it wrong or something! Come oooon! You kiss Maka all the time and she doesn't complain! As much as I hate to admit it, you're better at this than I am!" The younger male shouted, flailing his arms about as he explained. Soul raised an eyebrow.

"So you want me to teach you?"

Another pause.

"**No!" **Black Star answered quickly, "There's a difference between teaching and helping out your buddy!"

"It's basically teaching."

"No it is _not!"_

Soul smirked. Years may have passed and Black Star may have grown up in some senses, but his immaturity never ceased to amaze him.

"Fine."

Black Star paused in his mid-ranting, blinking and looking up at his best friend. "Really?"

"Just for the sake of _helping. _You better not speak of this to _anyone_ and don't ask me again. And you owe me. _Big time._"

A wide smile grew on Black Star's face and he jumped up, pumping his fist in the air. 'Hya-hoo! Thank you, man! You're a lifesaver!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Then everything stopped.

"...Oi..."

"...Yeah?"

"...How do we..."

"...I don't know, it was your idea. Think of something."

"...A-Ah..."

Black Star gulped audibly, taking a small step forward. A deep shade of red coated his face. Soul was no better, choosing to advert his eyes and take interest in the almost-asleep sun just outside the window. The moment he decided to turn his gaze in front of him, the closeness of Black Star's face caught him off guard.

Soul stumbled back, tripping over his own foot and falling with his back against the couch, unintentionally pulling Black Star down with a yelp.

He almost didn't realize that the technician's lips were pressed against his as a result.

He completely didn't realize the doorknob turning until it was too late.

"Hey, Soul! I'm bac-" A voice he _dreaded_ to hear, especially at such a moment, rang through the house. Unfortunately, judging by her sudden cut-off, she was aware of the current situation.

"Maka-chan? What's the matt-" A second's pause - "...er..."

As if suddenly realizing the predicament they were in, Black Star jumped up, flailing his arms wildly while trying to sputter out a coherent sentence.

"Tsu-Tsu-Tsubaki! It's n-not what you-! I-I can expla-! I-It's just a-!"

A soft squeak and the sound of footsteps running in the opposite direction led Soul to believe that she_probably_ didn't believe him.

"Tsu-Tsubaki!" Black Star ran after her quickly, lightly brushing past Maka, who still had her blank stare locked on her weapon.

Soul pushed himself up, rubbing his head and cautiously returning her gaze.

"...It's...a lot more complicated than you think..."

The bag she held fell to the floor, and she soon followed it. Soul looked nervously at her, before sighing heavily.

Now he had time to prepare his explanation for when she woke up.

_This isn't cool at all...  
_

:-:-:-:-:_ END _:-:-:-:-:


	3. Christmas Presents

**  
Title: **Christmas Presents  
**Rating: **T  
**Pairing: **SoulxMaka  
**Theme #:** 15. December/The End  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Soul Eater, it's characters, or this prompt list. They belong to Atsushi Okubo and 42_souls, respectively.  
**Warning**: Blair's antics, nosebleeding, fluff (again) and....A Christmas fic in November. XD;  
**A/N**: As with mostly everything else I write, this came out of absolutely nowhere. I really love this prompt set...it's randomly inspirational. :3

:-:-:-:-:-:

She really liked snow.

It was so rare in Death City, but ever since she was little, she loved snow. That's why she'd get a handful of extra-curricular assignments every time winter came around. Just so she could see the snow before the year ended.

"Ah..CHOO!"

"Here." Maka sighed, handing yet another tissue to her partner as he shivered, his arms wrapped around himself.

"Why do we have to be out here?" Soul whined, "It's cold! It's _freezing!" _He took the tissue and blew into it, emitting a loud, rude noise.

"Because we're done with missions for the month." The blonde said in a matter-of-fact way. She skipped ahead a bit - "We should enjoy the sights while we're here, ne?"

The weapon sniffled, glaring ahead. "Yeah, sure..."

Maka studied him for a bit, frowning a little at the agitated look on his face. "Soul..."

"What?"

"You don't like snow, do you?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, and responded with a tone of indifference. "Not really."

"Why not?" She asked, pausing in their walk to look at him directly.

Soul raised an eyebrow and then shrugged, "I don't know...it's too cold."

"I see..."

"What was that about?" He asked, watching as she turned away to walk again, her pigtails bouncing lightly after her.

"I love it!" She admitted without hesitation, stopping for a moment to hold out her hand, allowing a soft, falling snowflake to land in her palm. "It's so light...and fluffy! You can do so much stuff with it! Make snowballs, shape snow bunnies, and even create a snowman!"

Soul stared as she went on about the many uses of snow, taking notice of the gleam in her eyes and how she just seemed to skip instead of walking. With a small smirk, he took a mental note before suggesting that they get something to eat, seeing as they had a few hours before they had to get back. She agreed without much protest, placing the snow-rabbit she was currently making down and scampering off to find the nearest restaurant. He watched until she disappeared into the building, then quickly studied the figure she had created, burning every inch of the image into his mind.

Then Maka's yell for him to hurry up caught his attention, which he obediently complied to. After ordering their food, she went on to talk about something she read about snow, but he wasn't paying that much attention.

There were many other things on his mind.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Maka sighed heavily, flopping down onto her bed and staring at the ceiling in silence. Only a few hours after arriving in Death City and she _already_ missed the white-covered ground and the falling snowflakes. It was really a shame that they only came around a few months out of the year...

"Hey, Maka!"

The teenager blinked as the cat of the house jumped on her bed, pawing lightly at her arm and earning a scratching session behind her ear as a response.

"Blair...what's up?"

The witch-cat purred, a smile on her face and her eyes wide. "It's Christmas Eve, ya know! Mr. Fisher gave me a _whole bag_ of fish as a present! Isn't it great?" She exclaimed, her tone nothing short of excitement.

"Really? That _is_ great!" Maka smiled, happy for the cat, as she rolled on her side to lean on her elbow. "Ne, Blair...I haven't figured out what I'm gonna get Soul for Christmas...I already have presents for everyone else...what should I do?"

"Hm..." Blair stretched, then sat up straight, a mischievous glint in her golden eyes. "I have an idea! But we gotta hurry- the store will close soon!"

Maka allowed herself to be dragged out of the house, not noticing that it was generally empty before closing the door.

:-:-:-:

_I should've known..._

Soul shoved his hands into his pockets. Store after store after _store, _and he had yet to find a present for his technician. In fact, if it weren't for Black Star complaining about why _everyone_ needed to give him a present because he was a God, he'd probably have forgotten that it was Christmas Eve in the first place.

Not that he'd tell her that, of course.

Unfortunately, most of the stores that showed any promise were closed now, and he had nothing but a card. A freaking _card. _Maka would _kill_ him if that were all he got her for Christmas...

The image of the snow bunny burned in his mind.

Soul's eyes lit up as if they were a light bulb for ideas. He had the perfect plan, but he had somewhere to visit first...

_It's worth a shot._

:-:-:-:

_I should've known..._

Maka's eye twitched uncontrollably as her face burned red, gaze falling over the..._things_ Blair suggested were _good_ Christmas presents.

"Maka~ Come, come!" Her bubbly, bright voice seemed to echo through the aisle. "Look at these! Aren't they cu~te?"

"B-Blair...I don't think Soul would..."

"He'll _love_ it! Trust me!" The purple haired woman gave a patented smile, grabbing a handful of the items and putting them in the cart, along with the other things she managed to pick up. With a satisfied look, she pranced towards the checkout lane, a distraught, unsure Maka following her slowly.

_This...is going to be horrible..._

:-:-:-:

The clock beamed the time: 11:20 pm. Soul bit his lip in concentration, making the wrapping _perfect. _It was the least he could to make up for the major fail that he attempted to call a present. He attempted to make it somewhat appealing, with light blue as the main color for the paper and red trimming, topping it off with a simple white bow on top.

He stared at it, then sighed. All he could do was leave it there on the living room table and wait for Maka - whom he hadn't seen at all that night - to come back from wherever she was, then give it to her and hope that she wouldn't hit him with a book as a response.

Thirty minutes later, the doorknob twisted, and he lazily looked up from his position on the couch, eyes half-lidded.

"We're baa~ck!" Blair chimed, arms full with bags and a huge smile on her face. Maka wasn't far behind her, with a look on her face that could count as dazed, tired, or drunk. Or all three.

"Welcome home." Soul murmured, leaning back against the arm of the sofa. "Where've you guys been?"

"Oh, just shopping~" Blair purred, practically skipping towards Maka's room, pulling the girl along with her. Soul raised an eyebrow; the blonde hadn't said a word. However, he brushed it off as something Blair must've done and closed his eyes once again to finish his nap.

"W-Wait! Blair! Stop it!"

"Nya-haa~!"

He blinked. _What are they..._

"B-BLAIR! DON'T DO THAT!"

"Nya~! But it's for your present, remember~?"

"Y-Yeah but-"

"Then let's finish!"

"W-Wait!"

Red eyes stared in the direction of the closed door, blinking in confusion. Was a present really enough to make such a racket over? He opened his mouth to tell them to quiet down, but before a word came out, the door swung open and Blair waltzed out, wearing a very short, very _tight, _very _revealing _green, sparkling dress.

"Ne, Soul~" She hopped on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, consequently suffocating him in her cleavage. His face was instantly covered in blood as his eyes grew wide and his nose became a spurting fountain.

"Soul~ It's almost twelve o'clock, right~?"

He barely squeaked out a "yes".

"Good!" The curvy woman hopped off him and hopping back to room, being greeted with another series of squeaks and complaints.

"Soul~ the time?"

Soul took a glance at the clock, being preoccupied with holding his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Eleven fifty-ni- no, it's twelve now." He said, his voice slightly muffled.

"Twelve? Alright!"

"W-Wait. Blair. H-Hold o- eep!"

The door opened again, but once again it was Blair, except her back was towards him this time.

"Come ooon Maka~ It's twelve o'clock! It's Christmas!"

"B-But...this is..."

"Zwan~ Please help me out~!"

The hat on the table near the two grew a hand, stretching and grabbing Maka (or at least he _thought_ it was Maka...he couldn't quite see what Blair was trying to pull out). With the extra assistance, Blair easily managed to pull the object.

Ah, yes. He was right. It was Maka.

Soul's eyes bulged, his jaw dropped, and his mind cleared of any rational thought at the sight of Maka, his technician, the _flat-as-a-board, long-jacket wearing, conservative _technician, was dressed in a short, red skirt that showed off her long legs, a strapless red halter top that accented the fact that she actually _did _ grow in the past year, and a large, white bow that wrapped around her exposed midsection and sat on her lower back. He barely even noticed her hair - which had grown considerably longer than he had noticed - hanging down, brushing against the middle of her back in light waves, her bangs brushed out and clipped back. Her eyes were glued to the floor, a deep shade of red coating her cheeks.

He nearly blacked out.

"Merry Christmas~~!" Blair sang with a smile, twirling for a moment before taking Maka's wrist and pulling her into the living room to sit across from the scythe-weapon.

"M-M-M-M-Merry C-C-C-Christm-m-mas...S-S-S-Soul..." Maka squeaked out, holding her hands in her lap and her eyes fixated on the floor.

"A-Ah...Merry...Christmas..." He managed, unable to tear his eyes away from his roommate.

"Don't you like it~?" Blair sat on the arm of the couch, crossing her legs to cause the already short dress to ride up her leg. "This is her present for you!"

Soul's jaw dropped again. "T-T-This is?"

"Mm!" Blair's eyes shined, "I helped her with it~!"

_I can tell.._. He thought, gulping hard and pulling his eyes away to shift his gaze to his own present. He pushed it across the table, mentally willing the pink tint in his cheeks to go away.

"H-Here...yours."

Maka dared to glance up, inwardly relieved that Soul's red eyes were fixed elsewhere. Her face heated up a bit more before she took the package into her hands and unwrapped it.

Under the wrappings there was a rather cold box, plus a card. She took the card and put it aside for the moment, and opened the box.

She gasped.

Inside the box was a snow globe with her name engraved in the glass. Inside the snow globe was a snow rabbit, made exactly how she made it in England earlier that day, the only exception being the red gems were eyes instead of tiny pebbles. Maka stared in awe, forgetting her current attire as the fake snowflakes swirled in the ornament.

"Soul...this is...how did you..."

"Professor Stein helped me." Soul muttered, keeping his eyes on the window across the room. "I had to do that rabbit thing by scratch though...stupid professor didn't know how to make one..."

Suddenly he was covered in warmth and something soft. He blinked to find that the technician was hugging him.

"Thank you, Soul...it's really beautiful." She pulled back a bit and smiled.

Soul nodded and slapped a hand over his nose, but the blood still managed to slip through his fingers. Maka blinked then looked down, yelping suddenly and returning to her previous state of red, remembering that _her present_ wasn't one she could put in a box. She hopped back a bit, looking anywhere but at her partner. He did the same.

"M-Maybe you should g-go change..." Soul suggested, holding his nose tightly for the second time that night.

"R-Right..."

:-:-:-:-:_ END _:-:-:-:-:


	4. A New Friend

**Title: **A New Friend  
**Rating: **K  
**Pairing: **Maka/Chrona  
**Theme #:** 09. Second Glance  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Soul Eater, it's characters, or this prompt list. They belong to Atsushi Okubo and 42_souls, respectively.  
**Warning**: AU. Chibi-ness.  
**A/N**: For various purposes, I'm making Chrona a male. XD And although most of them don't take a major part of this, thinking of the group as chibis/children is just adorable~

:-:-:-:-:-:

He was always alone.

Always sitting there, no matter when they came out to play. He was always there, sitting in the shade of a large tree, away from everyone else. She tilted her head. No one else was with him, but she could've swore she saw his lips move...was he talking to himself?

"Maka-chan! Come, come!" A cheery yet soft voice called.

"Coming!" She called back, turning her attention from the boy to her friends who were waiting for her to return to start their daily game. She took one last glance at him before rushing to claim her position in tag.

:-:-:-:

It was the same the next day.

He was sitting there again, knees tucked to his chest and a stick in his hand, drawing something on the ground. He looked like he was talking to himself again...She frowned a little. No one ever went near him...she never saw anyone talk to him either. In fact, she never saw him with _anyone._ No one to drop him off at the park, no one to pick him up. Did he even _have_ parents? She took a few steps towards him...

"Oi, Maka! Hurry up!"

She let out a silent sigh. There was never enough time...

"Coming!"

:-:-:-:

After their game of kickball, she rushed to the tree to finally talk to that boy. He was just standing up, ready to leave.

"Hey, wait!"

The boy froze, eyes wide and a shocked look on his face. She ran up to him quickly, drowning out the sounds of her friends asking her what she was doing. Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight, looked at him and smiled.

"My name is Maka. What's yours?"

"P-Pass.."

She blinked then tilted her head. "Your name is Pass?"

The boy seemed to shrink back, his eyes lowering to the ground. "I...I don't know how to deal with this..."

"Deal with what?" She took another step forward, unintentionally causing him to squeak.

"D-Don't! You'll break the circle!"

Maka looked down, noticing that her foot was almost touching the edge of the circle. "Oh...how about this?"

She moved back a bit, then jumped over the line and right beside the boy. He flailed, opening and closing his mouth without saying anything.

"Now then...what's your name?" She tried again.

The boy stopped flailing, looking at her nervously before a light pink tinted his cheeks and he turned to look at his feet again. "Ch...Chrona..."

"Chrona? That's a cool name." She smiled, holding her hands behind her back. "Well Chrona, do you want to come play with us tomorrow? Thursdays are hide-and-seek days!"

He glanced up at her, but quickly returned to his previous state. "I-I don't know how to deal with girls..."

"Really?" Maka made a 'hmm' noise before snapping her fingers, causing Chrona to jump slightly from the sudden noise. "Soul and Black Star and Kid are boys, so you can be on their team!"

"B-But..."

"My Dad will be hear soon to pick me up, so I have to go now." She said with a slight tone of disappointment. "But I'll be here tomorrow! You'll play with us, won't you?"

Chrona stared at her for a while before offering a small smile. "A-Alright..."

Maka's smile grew large. "Great! See you tomorrow!" Then she took off to wait at her assigned waiting spot with the others, ready to tell them about their new addition. Meanwhile, Chrona stared after her. The smile hadn't gone away, and he felt kinda...warm. Picking up his stick, he made his way back home.

He couldn't wait to tell his Mom that he met a girl today.

:-:-:-:-:_ END _:-:-:-:-:


	5. Freefall

**Title: **Freefall  
**Author:** ryu_no_yuki (aka MisguidedAngelofDeath)  
**Rating: **PG  
**Pairing: **Black StarxTsubaki, side SoulxMaka  
**Theme #:** 42. Freefall  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Soul Eater, it's characters, or this prompt list. They belong to Atsushi Okubo and 42_souls, respectively.  
**Warning**: Un-beta'd-ness, written at 3am.

**A/N**: Well I've completely done this out of order and wrote a follow-up to the 2nd installment (Test, Test) _after_ I completed 2 totally unrelated prompts. ^^; Forgive me for that. Also...yeah. Totally uncreative title. XD;

:-:-:-:-:-:

_"I'm going shopping with Maka-chan. I'll be back later." _

_"Ah. Don't forget the soda!"_

_She smiled. _

_"I won't."_

:-:-:-:

It had become a weekly habit for Maka and Tsubaki to go out, taking a break from the men in their lives and all the missions to have a bit of 'girl time'. Sometimes it would be shopping, other times they would just go to the cafe and talk over a cup of cappuccino. Occasionally, Liz, Patti, and Chrona would join them whenever they were free, but normally it was just the two of them. Today was no different, and the pre-designated quest for that day was to go shopping.

"Tsubaki-chan!" Maka called, waving as she stood up from the park bench that served as their meeting place. Tsubaki smiled and waved back, speeding up a bit in her walk to hurry and talk to the blonde.

"Good morning, Maka-chan! Did you wait long?"

"No, I only got here a few minutes ago." She smoothed out her navy blue skirt and smiled. "Where should we go this time?"

"I was thinking that we should go to the avenue. You know, the one close to the bookstore? I heard they have a new store over there and I wanted to check it out."

"Sounds good! Let's go!" Maka chirped cheerfully, her pigtails bouncing as she began walking.

"Oh! Before we go, I have to get Black Star's soda...he'd go crazy if I forgot it.." Tsubaki turned, about to walk in the direction of the grocery store before being stopped by her best friend.

"It's alright, that idiot can be without his soda for a day." Maka said before feeling bad at the somewhat guilty look on Tsubaki's face. She sighed. "I'll remind you before we go home, okay?"

"Okay..."

:-:-:

"Chyaaaa~!" Maka stretched, a smile on her face as she walked up the path to her house. "Today was really fun, wasn't it Tsubaki-chan?"

"Yes! We bought a lot of cute stuff!" Tsubaki smiled as well, although the truth was that Maka brought a _lot_ more than the demon blade did. While she had one bag albeit a little big, Maka had walked out of the store garnering 4 huge bags filled to the top with everything from shirts to skirts to a set of hair ribbons. Tsubaki was a bit more conservative with the money, always being mindful of the monthly budget, since Black Star was a typical spend-a-holic. She giggled silently to herself, earning a curious look from her companion before they reached the apartment door.

Maka shifted the bags around, fumbling to get the house key. After muttering something about color-coding, she pulled it out, inserting it into the door and twisting.

"Hey, Soul! I'm ba-" She suddenly froze, mouth wide open.

Tsubaki frowned a little, a concern look on her face. "Maka-chan? What's the matt-" Her heart stopped in that second she chose to peer inside. "...er..."

__

:-:

_Sorry, Tsubaki. From now on, I'll be Soul's partner._

:-:

Those words echoed in her head, even if they were from so long ago...

"Tsu-Tsu-Tsubaki! It's n-not what you-! I-I can expla-! I-It's just a-!"

She squeaked, snapping out of the memory before looking at him with a mix of betrayal and horror. Without thinking, she turned around and ran in the opposite direction, momentarily forgetting about her best friend and that she was involved in the situation too. The only words that echoed in her head were the words she feared ever since that first time.

_Sorry, Tsubaki. From now on..._

The back of her eyes started to sting, but whether it was due the wind whipping against her face or she was about to cry, she wouldn't know.

"Tsubaki, wait!"

Tsubaki gasped, not realizing that he was right behind her until his voice broke through her thoughts. He caught her wrist, forcing her to stop as she panted softly to catch her breath. She kept her head down, not allowing him to see her eyes, even as he moved in front of her.

"Tsubaki...let me explain."

"It's okay...you don't have to..." She whispered. "It's Soul-kun you want, right? You two would make a good te-"

"It's not like that!"

Tsubaki jumped a bit, looking up at his sudden outburst. She waited while he stopped, a look of surprise on his face that twisted into guilt at seeing tears on the brim of her eyes before he coughed and continued.

"I don't like Soul like that. I was just there because I wanted his help!"

"Then why-"

"_That_ was his fault! Clumsy bastard tripped and took me with him!"

Tsubaki muttered a soft "oh" before blinking.

"What did you need help with? I could've tried to..."

"You can't."

Her blue eyes widened before shifting back to the ground.

"Oh...I'm sorry."

He gaped, before grabbing at his hair, obviously frustrated at the fact that he somehow always wound up making her think it was her fault when it clearly wasn't.

"Listen Tsubaki, the thing I needed help with was..." He swallowed as she looked at him patiently, waiting for him to continue. "...was learning how...tokissproperly." He said quickly, looking anywhere else but the pair of curious blue eyes in front him.

Her response didn't come quickly, instead making him paranoid as each second went by. Then, she spoke, but when she did, it wasn't the kind of response he expected. He expected her to laugh, or to point out the fact that he put all the blame on Soul when it was mostly his fault (he had hoped she hadn't caught that though), or to even hit him for thinking of something so stupid, even though she had never done that before (there was a first time for everything though, right?). He _hadn't_ expected her to answer in a perfectly calm, if not confused voice.

"Why would you need help with that?"

Black Star blinked, finally looking at her again. She stared at him in confusion, head tilted slightly. In the back of his mind, he realized that he had grown quite a bit taller than her, but that was quickly discarded.

"Wha...I thought the reason that you kept avoiding kissing was because I was doing it wrong." He stared at her, nearly mimicking her confused expression. Minus the light pink blush that suddenly spread through her cheeks.

"W-What? Y-You don't...do it wrong!" Tsubaki exclaimed, waving her hands slightly. He blinked.

"Then why do you avoid it?"

"That's...well...um..." She started toying with the end of her hair, looking at the ground and fidgeting slightly in embarrassment. "Because...when you do...I can't keep track of our surroundings...and you don't pay attention...so if there were a surprise attack...we'd be in trouble..."

Silence.

Black Star snorted, then broke out into full-blown laughter that still didn't stop after a few long minutes. Tsubaki sweatdropped.

"B-Black Star...?"

"Wahahahahaha! Tsubaki, you're really funny!" He choked out, holding his ribs with one arm while attempting to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Something like that...I would've never guessed!"

"But, Black Star, I was serious!" Tsubaki sighed, knowing inwardly that he'd never grow up.

Then the ground suddenly was cast in a shadow and she looked up, caught slightly off guard at the calm smile of her technician.

"Black Star...?"

"If it's something like that, then I don't have anything to worry about." He said with a smirk, before pulling her closer and leaning down to capture her lips with his.

She placed her hands lightly on his chest as she melted into the kiss, everything else around her becoming nothing but grey, fuzzy blurs. She struggled to snap her senses back into place, but as Black Star's arms wrapped tightly around her, she gave up, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drown in the feeling once again.

There was pretty much no chance of a sneak attack, right?

:-:-:-:

**- omake -**

He hated the way she was tapping her foot. He hated the way she was looking at him. He hated the way she had her arms crossed, with that frown on her face that indirectly _forced_ him to talk.

He _hated_ the fact that a book was sitting right beside her.

"Like I _said. _It was his idea. He said something about wanting help with his kissing and -"

"_Maka Chop!" _

The thick book collided against his skull, causing him to crash to the floor. He jumped up, a hand holding his head painfully.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"You mean to tell me that you _let_ him kiss you, without any thoughts of how _I _might feel, knowing that you kissed _him _and now if _I _kiss _you, _it'd be like kissing _him_ too?!_"_

Soul crossed his arms. "Geez, I don't know why you're taking it so far. All I have to do is use mouth wash or something and-"

"_Maka CHOP!!"_

Again, he crashed to the ground.

"WHA-"

"That's not the point!" Maka snapped. "Think of the _principle_ of the matter!"

Soul grumbled, halfway thinking that it would've been better if she was still sleeping soundly on the living room couch.

"You didn't act this way when _Blair_ kissed me..."

...

"_**MAKAAAAAAAA CHOP!!"**_

Maka stomped off, face flushed red as she went to retrieve the bags discarded on the floor, ignoring the star-seeing state Soul was in. She paused, taking the time to pick out a bottle before laughing to herself.

"She forgot the soda..."

:-:-: _END _:-:-:


End file.
